Matt Laird
Mathew J. Laird is a former coach at Loyola Academy and Stevenson. His involvement in quizbowl ended when he was charged with sexual crimes involving minors in 2018.[1] He was convicted the following year and is currently serving a 35-year sentence in the Illinois prison system.[2]
Laird competed in high school at Loyola Academy in Wilmette, Illinois, graduating in 2004. As an undergraduate at Loyola University, he worked at Loyola Academy as an assistant coach to David Riley. In 2011, after a year as a teacher's aide at the school, he became an English teacher and took over as quizbowl coach upon Riley's retirement. He held both of these positions until 2014, when he temporarily left teaching. During the 2016–17 school year, he was an official assistant coach for the quizbowl club at Stevenson. The next year, he was hired as a special education teacher at North Shore Academy in Highland Park, Illinois. He worked in this capacity for a little more than a year before being fired after police notified the school of the criminal investigation against him.
Outside of coaching, Laird was involved in Illinois high school quizbowl as a moderator and administrator. Prior to becoming head coach at Loyola Academy, he was a moderator at the IHSA state championship tournament and directed the IHSSBCA All State Program.